Homeowners in Florida
are beginning to look toward bats to combat nuisance insects in their
neighborhood, according to Environment News Service. Florida residents
have been increasingly concerned about insect pests since July when West
Nile Virus was found in the state. Since then, the use of backyard bat
houses has been on the rise. Bats feed on up to 1,000 flying insects per
night, including mosquitoes, moths and flies.

A bat house provides
shelter for bats during the day. They tend to stay within the area of
the house during night. Since bats are peaceful creatures, many species
will share the same space in a bat house. On average, most residential
bat houses will hold 100 to 300 bats. The University of Florida's Institute
of Food and Agriculture Sciences created a house that is host to 100,000
bats, now a landmark in the area.

This type of pest
control has been used in Europe since the 1960's and first started being
used in the United States in the mid 1980's. As bat houses become more
popular, certain myths will likely be dispelled. For example, contrary
to popular belief, the rate of rabies in bats is very low. Also, it is
possible to block bats' access to areas where they may be unwanted. If
you are interested in learning more about residential bat houses, visit
http://www.batcon.org to see bat house plans.

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